The Rugby Championship
Springbok scrumhalf Francois Hougaard will not play again this year and will undergo surgery next week.
Springbok wing JP Pietersen has bid farewell to South Africa as he prepares to head to Japan to take up his contract with the Panasonic Wild Knights.
Uncapped Hurricanes loose forward Brad Shields has been included in a 30-man All Black training squad who will gather in Auckland this week ahead of the Rugby Championship.
Blues utility back Francis Saili is the second uncapped player included in the squad by All Black coach Steve Hansen, who has as expected welcomed back captain Richie McCaw.
Reds flyhalf Quade Cooper has returned to the Wallabies set-up after being included in new coach Ewen McKenzie’s first training squad for The Rugby Championship series against South Africa, New Zealand and Argentina.
Wallabies fullback Kurtley Beale has been ruled out for the year after being told by new coach Ewen McKenzie to have an operation on his shoulder and come back fit and healthy next year.
South Africa’s Craig Joubert, who was in charge of the Rugby World Cup 2011 Final, will referee the first Test under the scrum engagement trial sequence when he takes charge of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship match between Australia and New Zealand in Sydney on 17 August.
The International Rugby Board on Wednesday announced the names of the 12 referees for The Castle Rugby Championship. These appointments were made by the IRB Match Official Selection Committee following a detailed review of recent performances during the June Tests.
South Africa’s national football and rugby teams will play on the same day at the former World Cup showpiece stadium in Soweto to honour Nelson Mandela, bringing together the country’s two most popular sports that once portrayed its racial divisions.
Resting All Black captain Richie McCaw has returned to the side for the first Rugby Championship Test against Australia in August, but not necessarily as openside flank.
All Blacks centre Conrad Smith has revealed that he will miss New Zealand’s European tour in November and take a sabbatical after the Rugby Championship.
How will Heyneke Meyer fare in 2013?
We take a look at Springbok participation in the Tri-Nations (now expanded and renamed The Rugby Championship).
The Springboks took part in the Southern Hemisphere’s premier international competition just five years after being readmitted to international competition in the 90’s.
The Springboks will face their Rugby World Cup 2015 Pool B opponents, Scotland and Samoa (as well as Italy), in an innovative new tournament featuring double-header Test matches in 2013, the South African Rugby Union announced on Thursday.
It was written on their faces. The Boks, to a man, left Soccer City in despair last night, their 2012 Championship ending on the most depressing note.
The All Blacks, the trend-setters in the modern game, were beaming and edging ever closer to a world-record run of victories, after a game that only required one half of a puff from them.
Lungani Zama – Sunday Tribune
Pumas (9) 19 / 25 (15) Wallabies (Final Score)
The Argentinian Pumas and Australian Wallabies did battle in The Rugby Championship at Estadio Gigante de Arroyito, Rosario at 01:10 SA Time Sunday (20:10 ARG Time, 09:10 AEST Sunday, 23:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
Springboks (16) 16 / 32 (12) All Blacks (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and New Zealand All Blacks did battle in The Rugby Championship at FNB Stadium, Soweto at 17:05 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
The Springbok side to face the All Blacks at FNB Stadium (Soccer City) on Saturday, has been announced.
The same side which played the Wallabies has been selected, with only Coenie Oosthuizen coming in on the bench in place of Pat Cilliers.
Due reward was given to the side who played so well against the Wallabies, by keeping the entire squad in tact.
The New Zealand All Blacks have made two changes to the starting team which ran riot over the Pumas last weekend, to play the Springboks at FNB Stadium (Soccer City), near Soweto.
Argentina coach Santiago Phelan has named an unchanged starting line-up for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash with Australia in Rosario.
Western Force wing Nick Cummins will become the 11th new cap, and the 38th player to represent Australia in what is the 10th Test of a challenging year.
The International Rugby Board (IRB) have said that Irish referee Alain Rolland got it wrong when he refused to allow Australia to make a replacement and forced them to play the last 14 minutes with 14 men.
Springbok flyhalf Johan Goosen has been cleared to take over the kicking duties again in this weekend’s Castle Rugby Championship match against the All Blacks at FNB Stadium.
Ruan Pienaar’s elevation to the Springbok kicking role is likely to continue this weekend despite the fact he was successful with less than half of his kicks at goal against Australia at Loftus Versfeld.
Springbok prop Coenie Oosthuizen has been cleared to play after an examination by a neurosurgeon in Durban on Tuesday.
The convincing win of the Springboks on Saturday was followed by news on the injury front.
Most notably Francois Steyn, who rolled his left ankle last Monday morning, will have to undergo an operation to clean the ankle up and will be sidelined for 3 months recovering from the surgery.
What an enjoyable Saturday late afternoon, bar the ridiculous 3G Internet signal at Loftus Versfeld, of course!
The Springboks totally dominated and comprehensively outmuscled and outplayed a very ordinary and injury ravaged Wallabies side, with the Springboks eventual winners by 31 / 8, after also leading at the halftime break by 14 / 3.
I guess 5 tries to 1 tells the story, with Bryan Habana scoring a hat-trick on the day to increase his Springbok all time record to 46 Test tries.
Pumas (8) 15 / 54 (32) All Blacks (Final Score)
The Argentinian Pumas and New Zealand All Blacks did battle in The Rugby Championship at Estadio Ciudad de La Plata, La Plata at 01:10 SA Time (20:10 ARG Time, 23:10 GMT).
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SH4 & CSN on TV in SA.
*******************
Springboks (14) 31 / 8 (3) Wallabies (Final Score)
The South African Springboks and Australian Wallabies did battle in The Rugby Championship at Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria at 17:00 SA Time.
This was the live match discussion Article.
The match was broadcast LIVE on SuperSport 1, SHD & M-Net on TV in SA.
*******************
The Springbok side to face the Wallabies on Saturday at Loftus, has been announced.
Two late changes have been made to the Springbok 22, with Francois Steyn failing a late fitness test and Coenie Oosthuizen also not fit enough to man the bench. Jean de Villiers moves to inside centre and Jaco Taute will make his Springbok debut at outside centre. PatCilliers replaces Coenie Oosthuizen on the bench.
It took guts and determination from Heyneke Meyer and clearly he has the best interests of Springbok Rugby as well as the individual interests of the players at heart, when making some hard and big decisions.
Johan Goosen starts at flyhalf and Andries Bekker starts at No 5 lock in place of Juandré Kruger. Elton Jantjies is on the bench and Morné Steyn drops out of the match 22 alltogether.
Flip van der Merwe moves down to the bench after a strong game against the New Zealand All Blacks, but one has to mention that Flip is carrying a niggling injury and did not practice with the squad on Monday and Tuesday.
Australia suffered another blow ahead of their Castle Rugby Championship match against the Springboks at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday with reserve loose forward Scott Higginbotham set to be ruled out of the game.
First-choice flyhalf Dan Carter has been cleared to start in his 90th Test, when New Zealand play Argentina in a Rugby Championship match at Estadio Ciudad de La Plata in La Plata on Saturday.
Kurtley Beale will start his first Test at flyhalf on Saturday after Australia coach Robbie Deans chose the fullback to replace the injured Quade Cooper for the Rugby Championship clash with South Africa.
The Australian Rugby Union broke their silence over the public rants of controversial flyhalf Quade Cooper, confirming they have placed the volatile player on notice.
Argentina have named their side to face the All Blacks in this weekend’s Rugby Championship fixture on Saturday in La Plata, retaining the same starting side that put Australia under pressure a fortnight ago.
There was a buzz at Loftus today as thousands gathered to watch the afternoon open practice session on Loftus main field. Fathers, mothers and heaps and heaps of children attended to watch Heyneke Meyer’s squad of 30 go through their paces. My son, BonzaiGBS, was our resident photographer and took hundreds of photographs.
There’s some good news and some bad news, I’m wondering which you want to hear first….
Four players have been called up to the Springbok squad of 30 for the final two Tests of The Rugby Championship, in South Africa against Australia and New Zealand. Continue reading